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Resistance and backlash to programming on ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) can take different forms and occur at community, national and international levels. Some forms of backlash and resistance are easier to identify in some instances than in others and may involve:

Communities denying that gender inequality is a problem or claiming that gender equality is a threat to local customs and beliefs.
People arguing that VAWG is a women’s issue and that men do not have a role to play in ending VAWG.
People co-opting the language of human rights to emphasise issues like the…

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is critical for understanding and improving programmes that aim to end violence against women and girls (VAWG). M&E helps to track the effectiveness of programmes, manage risks, and understand what works to prevent and respond to violence globally. In simple terms, monitoring involves collecting regular data during implementation to track programme activities in line with the design and work plan, and monitor risks and unintended consequences. Evaluation looks at whether the programme achieves its goals and why, by examining everything from the activities to the…

Working with parliamentarians is important when addressing violence against women and girls (VAWG) because they play a pivotal role in developing and reforming laws, approving government budgets, as well as holding the executive branch of government accountable for implementation of laws and policies. As elected representatives, parliamentarians have the authority and responsibility to draft, pass and amend legislation, allocate budgets, and oversee government action. Moreover, parliamentarians can leverage their public influence to raise awareness and shift social norms, making them important…

Global and regional frameworks create a critical enabling environment to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls (VAWG) through establishing internationally agreed norms and standards. These frameworks are the result of decades of advocacy by women’s rights movements and have significantly shifted the perception of VAWG from a private issue to a matter of collective concern for states and societies. By framing VAWG as a violation of human rights, global and regional frameworks impose specific obligations on signatory states to protect their citizens and uphold their rights by…

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) affects all sectors of society and impacts on outcomes across multiple areas including health, education, social welfare, security and economic development among others. At the same time, government bodies and ministries that work in different sectors have a vital role to play in preventing and responding to VAWG given their role in service provision and their reach across population groups. Working collaboratively can amplify the reach, effectiveness and sustainability of VAWG programmes and is, therefore, important for working at scale. Thus, in order…

Many countries have developed national action plans on ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) in recognition of the need to move beyond fragmented, piecemeal efforts towards a coordinated, multi-sectoral policy framework.

This can demonstrate the government’s commitment to addressing VAWG, set out a clear roadmap for action, and help ensure that activities are comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable. 

The key elements that are important when developing a comprehensive, effective national action plan or policy are shown here.

Participatory monitoring and evaluation (PME) is a process to ensure direct engagement with civil society and rights-holders in the monitoring and evaluation of a programme. It ensures that a wide representation of local stakeholders and community members, including women’s rights activists and organisations, are actively engaged and participate meaningfully in programming. A participatory approach involves engagement at different stages of M&E: design of M&E framework, design of and conducting data collection, data analysis and reporting. Practice-based knowledge lies at the core of this…

Addressing violence against women and girls requires high-quality, disaggregated data. Existing data can offer crucial insights into the prevalence, patterns, causes and consequences of different forms of VAWG as well as the impacts of initiatives to prevent and respond to violence. Several countries regularly collect nationally representative data on VAWG through surveys (for example on VAWG prevalence and risk factors) as well as administrative data (to measure incidents reported to the police, health facilities and other services). However, there are significant gaps in the collection of…

Selecting an appropriate evaluation strategy is essential for generating credible and reliable evidence to answer questions about a programme’s performance and impact. This evidence can be used to improve the current programme, develop plans for scale-up, and inform the design of future programmes. An evaluation strategy should be identified early in the programme design phase to ensure sufficient budget, time and resources are allocated to fulfil the scope and complexity of the evaluation. VAWG programmes often involve non-linear and complex change. Evaluating programmes of this nature…

Improving data on violence against women and girls (VAWG) is essential for addressing this critical global issue which has negative effects on women, their families and communities. High-quality, comparable data on different types of VAWG is crucial for understanding the extent and nature of violence, supporting evidence-based policies and programmes to prevent and respond to it, advocating for change and tracking progress. Efforts to improve VAWG data have gained momentum globally, with an increasing number of countries investing in data to prevent and address violence against women. Recent…